Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My first purchase had an issue with the gasket that wouldn't seal, but the company was responsive and provided a replacement no questions asked. The replacement works well. The company gives advice on brewing coffee with this moka pot that are just myths: "Use only cold water"- do not do this. Putting cold water in the base will subject the grounds to heat for longer, leading to bitter/off flavors in your coffee. Use hot water in the base and a low heat setting on the stove (if you're getting sputtery energetic coffee coming out of the spout, your heat is too high). "Only use cold water to clean" - this thing goes on your stove and makes hot coffee by boiling water. no water that comes out of your faucet should damage this unit in any way. "Do not use soap to clean" - this is the seasoning myth that you need to season your pot with coffee and coffee oils to get the coffee to taste right. It's nonsense. Coffee oils will be left in your moka pot if you clean only with cold water or without soap. These oils will (as oils do) oxidize over time leading to off flavors in your coffee. Wash your dishes with warm water and soap, your coffee will taste better. This moka pot does not make espresso. No moka pot does. It makes a coffee that is in between espresso and drip coffee. It's dark, it's strong, it can be wonderful, but it's not espresso. You can use pre ground coffee with this, but you're better off grinding your own. The grind should be finer than pre ground drip coffee, but not as fine as espresso. The wood handles are not wood. "Duh." you might think, "Why would they include combustible handles on something you put on a stove?" Many higher end moka pots have wooden handles. The heat should be low enough, and the handle far enough away from the source of heat, that the handle lighting on fire shouldn't be a thing. At this price point I should not have been surprised, but I was for some reason. The handles are comfortable to hold, and soft, but there's a bit of a mental disconnect in seeing wood, then feeling the material the handle is made out of. The coffee chamber is very thin and delicate. Again, not a surprise at this price point. There's nothing wrong with it, just not something that's going to stand up to rough use. The water chamber patinas immediately. This is to be expected as it's made from aluminum. Nothing to worry about. Overall, this is a good purchase. It looks nice, and if you're looking for a cheap moka pot, this one works and won't break the bank. Good for someone who is just getting into making coffee with a moka pot and wants some practice before blowing dough on a more expensive model.